Want to set up a 6500 watt min. Gen. and looking for ideas
as to what is the best fuel.
I don't like the idea of keeping alot of gasoline around or
getting into another fuel such as LP.
I have an oil fired baseboard hot water system with two 275 gal. tanks in the basement of #2 fuel oil.
Would it make sense to go diesel? How do I overcome the cold weather use as the #2 would gel.
Any comments would be welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Gasoline was hard to come by for several days during the last ice storm.

It would be fairly simple to have a small tank of treated fuel on an enclosed diesel genset in the yard near the house, then have an automated top-up system to keep that tank filled from the inside tanks. They also have the battery to start the genset inside, warm & charged.

Several of my neighbours do it this way, once the genset has run for a few minutes and gets up to temperature, it keeps the onboard tank warm enough to run nearly anything.

One even went so far as to make up a round port on the enclosure, and buy a rubber exhaust hose like the garages have to vent your exhaust outside. When he needs to start the genset he puts the hose from the tailpipe of his pickup into the genset's shroud, after a short time the motor & fuel are all warmed up, then he uses booster cables to start the genset. I assume it would be a PITA if the power went out at 3am, but to each their own.

The only maintenance required is after it's been run, is to drain what's in the tank back into the indoor bulk tank, and refill the genset with treated diesel so it will start easliy next time.

I like the idea of the pto,don't need another engine to take care of. Did not know how much of a Gen. I could run off my 7500 Kubota.Haven't looked into it
very far. I was told by a friend I would have to run it pretty much wide open? Also my wife needing to start it up
if I wasn't home is a consideration. plugging in the cord and turning the key as opposed to taking off the blower etc.
Thanks for the imput.

There are dozens of permutations of fuel and gen setups. The cost of each generated kilowatt is likley to get incremantally higher the fancier your system becomes (different fuel types stored inside or out, electric starting options etc) We all like to think that we are rugged and independent enough prepared to face an entire winter without any outside provided infrastructure (utility water roads etc) but in reality those winters dont happen to any but a very very few. And for the few where they do happen you can bet they are not talking about a 6500 watt generator set ups and debating fuel types. Get yourself a 6500 kW set and 50 gal of gas which you can use in the car next spring when you have not used it all up. Your generated kW cost will be as low as possible (still astronomical compared to bought power from the utility). I think of it this way - self generated power is the most expensive power I can buy - therefore buy the absolute least amount of it I can possibly do with. I have a portable 4000 kW set that I plug into the dryer outlet (bad me I dont have a transfer switch!) AFTER flipping the main. I can run the bare essentials - furnace, well pump and a few appliances by regulating which circuit breakers are turned off and on. And yes I am fully aware of the danger of not having a transfer switch.

Hi Grinder, If your a motorhead / tincker, you may want to look into a Listeroid 6/1 Diesel engine, and a gen head. I have been having a blast putting it together and its going to outlast most of us as its a slow speed engine only running at 650 RPM. You can readup on it here, link below - http://www.utterpower.com/listeroi.htm.. Contact me if you want any more info on my setup. Brian

Thanks, I've heard of lister diesels for many years. Are they made in Germany?
I just got a new Buzz Box and not opposed to making
something up, I have an Electrician handy on a daily basis.
He put a new(to me) type of panel in one of my recent projects that reguired a generator set up. Instead of
the usual transfer switch panel, It had what looks like two main breakers in your usual 200 amp panel. You can only
use one at a time via a sliding locking mechanism.
When you loose power you shut the top one off and slide the lock and turn the one below it on. This is connected to your generator female plug,plug in your ample supply of genarator and your good to go. The whole panel is available
as long as you have supply.
Obviously I'm not an electrician but it seems a whole lot simpler and quite a lot cheaper. He has picked one up for my panel at home for around $60.00, He has not installed it yet. He is recommending the 6500 watt min. Elec stove, well pump at 150 ft.,etc.